


(i wish i had a) Concrete Heart

by hkittycat



Category: StarCraft
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, I wanted it to be angstier tbh, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Matt is a cat person, matt doesn't know how to social interaction, shoutout to rick springfield for giving me a title AND a summary, valerian is just "i want to know what love is" by foreigner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 20:39:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14221374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hkittycat/pseuds/hkittycat
Summary: "The strength of the man's in the sweat of his brows, the power of the woman's in her tears. That's the way of the world," Father said.But I learned  it in the light of a cold world, that woman's not the only one to cry.. . .Matt learns that maybe there's more to Valerian than just the spoiled prince he thought there was.





	(i wish i had a) Concrete Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I've been trying to finish a Kate Lockwell/Valerian fic I started, but this plot would not leave my brain and I had to write it instead.

Matt hated Valerian.

At first, everyone did. The prince didn't take it personally; he knew they had good reasons to. But eventually, he carved his own niche on the hunk of junk that was the Hyperion. It wasn't as fancy as any of the Dominion fleet, and it could use a good scrub down, but Valerian loved it all the same. He delighted in the fact that his father wouldn't recognize any of it, and would most likely hate every change the Raiders made. But most important was the people. He had gradually earned their trust, and friendship.

Egon was easy. Valerian loved, and understood, all of his scientific ramblings. Unlike most of the crew, that couldn't care less about whatever alien discovery he had made that day.

He won Swann over by gifting him plenty of Dominion tech, and lathering praise on his work.

Graven came around after finding out about his extensive knowledge of weapons and war tactics. 

But Matt? No matter what he tried, Matt still avoided him as much as possible, and was so cold to him when they were forced to interact. The prince pushed him and tried to get into his shell at every opportunity, but he wouldn't budge. Valerian nearly gave up and dropped it, but he was stopped when he saw something in Matt's eyes. 

He knew it all too well. He had carried that iron weight in his own eyes at one point. He wanted to know what dragged it into Matt's eyes, but asking was clearly not an option.

He tried to just ignore it, and focus on something else. He couldn't even figure out why he cared so much. If it were someone else, he would leave it alone. There was one explanation he came up with, but he didn't like it. He had never been in love, and as much as he knew now wasn't the time, he did hope to experience it someday; There was so much in the world to experience, and he wanted as much of it as he could get. But not now, and not with Matt.

His curiosity continued to eat away at him, before finally coming to a head and forcing him to action. He finished his daily fencing session, and made his way to the bridge.

Matt was there, as usual. He looked to be quite busy, also usual. If everything else went as it normally did, Valerian had more than a few hours before he would return to his room. 

And so Valerian headed for the captain's quarters. For better or worse, he was a Mengsk. His energy may have been more compassionate than his father's, but it still demanded respect. He walked through the hall, back straight like be belonged. Much to his surprise, the door was unlocked; he had been prepared to pick it. It was unlocked, and no one had even looked at him wrong, yet guilt still washed over him as he opened the door.

The whole room was gray. Walls, floor, furniture . . . The only things of interest were the pile of papers on the desk, and a litter box in the corner. He scans the room closer and notices a tiny scrap of gray fur on the duvet of the same coloe. Valerian grabs a handful of papers and takes a seat on the bed next to the kitten. He rubs her chin and murmurs, "I never would have guessed Matt was an animal person, but you're a cute little thing." She's slightly apprehensive because of the stranger, but she enjoys the petting enough to settle herself on the prince's lap. 

He looks down at one of the papers and feels his heart drop. The words "R.I.P. Brother" are written in neat handwriting on a small scrap of paper that's pinned to a casualty notification letter for a Kenneth Cole Horner. Valerian was told about his mother in person, and her death was expected. He can't even begin to fathom getting nothing but a letter stating her death, out of nowhere. 

He doesn't know how long he's been staring at it, or how long he's been crying. He's snapped out of his trance when the gray kitten hops down from his lap to ram herself against a shining boot that just entered. "What the hell are you doing in my room?" 

Curiosity killed the cat.

"I was just wondering why you're so pissed off at me," There was definitely a more delicate way to answer, but Valerian didn't know what it was. He holds up the letter. "But you're not mad at me, you must be angry with the whole world. I know what you're going through all too well."

The captain rips the letter away from the other man. "You must have had such a rough life, being prince of an empire. Getting sent to bed without dinner is so difficult, isn't it? I'm working with you for Jim only. Don't pretend you want to be my friend," He snarls.

"After all you've done to take down Arcturus, how can you believe the man was possibly a decent father? For the entire time he's known of my existence, I've been nothing but a disappointment to him. He wasn't even sympathetic when my mother died. I know my life has been far easier than others, but it hasn't exactly been all sunshine and rainbows." His tone wasn't exactly nice, but it wasn't harsh either. Which was strange, digs at his heritage were one of the few things that were able to get under his skin. He had heard "butterflies in the stomach" was a sign of love, and he felt like he might throw up whenever he looked at Matt. If this was love, he hated it.

The captain sighed. Damn it. Valerian had a point. Matt couldn't even begin to imagine being raised by a tyrant like Arcturus. And the tears he had ignored at first . . . Whatever childhood event he was remembering truly had shaken him.

The prince gets up and heads for the door. "Wait, stop. You can stay in here," A crimson flush fills Matt's cheeks. "For a little while, if you want to. I'm-" The words were far more difficult to say than they should have been. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed you've had a perfect life. We can talk, just if you want. I've always just thought of you as an extension of your father, I barely know who you really are." Matt sits cross-legged in the back corner of the bed, and looks down into his lap. He could navigate any asteroid field and come up with a strategy to win almost any battle, but he couldn't navigate a conversation to save his life. It was a wonder Valerian hadn't slapped him yet.

Valerian hesitantly takes a seat at the end of the bed. "It does hurt to hear that's what you thought of me, but I appreciate that you're willing to find out who I really am. I'm an open book, as long as you'll look past who my father is."

The kitten hops up on to the bed to mark Valerian's legs with her scent. "Her name is Claire," Matt says to fill the space as he attempts to think of an appropriate question. He certainly had questions, but he was afraid of crossing a boundary. "What exactly did your father dislike about you? From what I've observed, before leaving to join us, you were the perfect son . . . You don't have to answer if this is too personal."

"He didn't know I existed until I was seven. My interests were far from what he thought was appropriate for a man, and he thought I was weak. He threw away all my books and replaced them with military books. He made me train in combat," Claire walked to the other end of the bed, settling herself into Matt's lap. Valerian lays back, resting his head by Matt to pet her. "I'm almost grateful. If he hadn't pushed me, I would have never had the resources to defy him, and I would have never had the chance to meet you. Still, sometimes I wish I could have had a quiet life of an archaeologist on some unpopulated planet."

Matt files away the comment about meeting him for later. "Maybe it isn't too late. After all of this is over, you could find some sort of archaeology project." 

"As much as I would love that, the people will need someone to lead them, and I'm the next logical choice."

"If it means anything, I'll be there to help you lead in any way that I can."

"I appreciate that," The prince closes his eyes, the fatigue and soreness caused by his earlier duel beginning to set in. "Every man in the Mengsk family has gone down the same path. Hated their fathers, and then grew up to be just like them. What if I'm destined for that path as well?"

"You're not destined for anything you don't want to be," He takes advantage of the prince's closed eyes to take a closer look at him. There's traces of the sharp Mengsk features, but they're overpowered by the soft features of his mother. "What was your mother like?" 

"Perfect. She encouraged everything I did, and taught me to stand up to my father. I would have never made it this far without her," Valerian answers. "What about Kenneth?" 

"The best brother anyone could ask for. We both hated our home planet. It was so damn boring, and we both wanted off. But he still managed to find things for us to do, and he'd talk about how one day we would leave together, and go on adventures." He avoids talking about his brother's enlistment, and instead tell more stories from his childhood. They range from the phase where he and Ken were convinced they could be the next big rockstar, to his first girlfriend who, looking back, may have been an actual psychopath. He spills everything he can remember, until Valerian's breathing becomes slow and steady, and he's pretty sure he's asleep. Matt takes off his jacket and boots, and throws them off the edge of the bed before maneuvering himself under the covers, trying not to disturb Valerian.

He examines the prince's face again. Several stray strands of hair have escaped his ponytail, and he reaches out, just to brush them back, but damn it, his hair is so soft and Matt is soon stroking his fingers throughout the whole length of it. 

"You know, I'm awake," Valerian says and gets up, walking towards the door. Matt is convinced he's completely ruined any chance of having any type of relationship with Valerian, and then he hits the light switch. Then there's a clattering sound as his badge covered jacket hits the ground. Then his sword. Then his belt. When everything but his underclothes are off, he crawls under the covers and buries his face in Matt's chest. 

Opening up emotionally? Talking about archaeology? Being with another man? Arcturus would hate every bit of this encounter. It was already perfect, but the thought of how angry his father would be somehow makes it even better. "Go back to petting my hair," He whispers.

Matt is happy to oblige, and he's happy to reciprocate when Valerian wraps his arms around him. And he's pretty sure he'll be happy if this is how he falls asleep every night for the rest of his life.


End file.
